Wolves in Space
by Gordon Pasha
Summary: Kate, Humphrey, Lilly and Garth suddenly find themselves taken out of Jasper, out of Canada, and even out of this world! Now, they are stranded in space with no clue as to how they got there, who brought them there, or why. Our heroes go in search of the answers but find much more waiting for them than they could ever imagine. Will they ever find a way back home?
1. Not in Jasper Anymore

**Here's a story idea that I've had for a while now but was never sure about pursuing. Thanks goes to DLW for convincing me to actually try this out. **

**This is planned to be another epic-length adventure that should take our heroes to some interesting places. I probably won't be able to update this one as often as my other stories, since I still have a lot of work to do on "Perils of the North," must finish up "Wolves on Film," and have to get out my sequel to "Only Wolves and Madmen." But I'll get to it when I'm able and there isn't a more pressing story I need to work on first. **

**Alpha and Omega and its characters are the property of Lionsgate and Crest Animation Studios. I claim no copyright except over my own characters and ideas.**

**So, without further ado, read on:**

* * *

**I. Not In Jasper Anymore. I.**

* * *

Kate screamed. She had just regained consciousness and the only thing she knew was that she was drowning. Water, or a clear substance not quite like water, seemed to be pouring down through her mouth and into her lungs. And worst of all, she was trapped. On all sides, clear glass boxed her in and made it impossible to move. She had no idea what she was doing here. She just knew she had to escape.

And so she began pounding on the glass, pounding with all her might. One blow failed to do anything, two blows failed to do anything, but the third blow cracked the glass just enough for it to become unable to hold the liquid and collapse completely. Kate and the liquid spilled out of the container and onto the floor.

Kate took several long and hard gasps as she lay on the floor, covered in liquid. The life-giving air once again filled her lungs and gave her the strength to at last rise to her feet. Now that her survival instinct had been satisfied, Kate began to wonder about where she was and, more importantly, where was Humphrey?

Then she saw him. Humphrey was in a container just like hers and just next to hers. He was, however, still asleep. Kate was momentarily relieved by how peaceful he looked. Then she turned her head and noticed that there were two more containers next to his. In one was Garth, in the other was Lilly. They had all been trapped just like she was.

Now Kate's only thought was that she had to release all of them. She could not risk having them wake up and drown as she had almost done. Kate looked around for any sort of control to open the containers, but she realized that she'd have no idea what one looked like even if it was there. She knew that there was only one option left. This was going to hurt….

Humphrey awoke with a start after he had come crashing to the floor. "Kate! Kate! Where are you? Kate! Where am I? Why am I all wet?"

"Relax, Humphrey," Kate said. As she walked up beside him, she massaged her sore head and made sure that any shards of glass had not found their way into it. Fortunately, none had.

"Kate, where are we?" Humphrey said.

"I'll explain later," Kate said, having no explanation but knowing that she needed Humphrey to stay calm right now. "But first, we have to rescue Lilly and Garth."

Humphrey gasped as he saw Lilly and Garth still in their containers. When he finally recovered himself, he turned back to Kate. "And how are we supposed to… oh, no!" Humphrey had noticed Kate rubbing her head and put the pieces together herself.

"Humphrey, it's the only way," Kate said. "I'll save my sister and you save Garth."

Humphrey looked at Garth's container and then back at Kate. "Um, maybe you can get Lilly and we can just leave Barf where he is. I mean, just look at how peaceful he looks! I've never seen him this relaxed ever!"

Kate shook her head. "We don't have time to argue. They could die if we don't act quickly."

"Okay, okay," Humphrey said. "You take Lilly and I'll take Garth…."

Humphrey was still making no progress toward even denting the glass when Lilly came tumbling to the floor beside him a minute later, having just been released by Kate.

Lilly awoke immediately and Kate couldn't help but chuckle. Lilly's wet bangs were hanging down over her face and were now completely covering both of her eyes. Kate didn't think that even Lilly could see through that tangled mess. Slowly, Lilly pushed the bangs just far enough out of her right eye so that she could view the world with relative clarity. Then she looked up at her sister.

"Kate, how many times did mom tell you not to pour water on me when I'm sleeping?" Lilly said with evident annoyance.

Kate chuckled some more at her sister's innocence, which she always found heartening in even the worst circumstances. "It wasn't me, sis. This time, it really wasn't. Just look at how wet I am myself!"

Lilly did not say anything, but she inwardly admitted that Kate made a good point. But then she was distracted when she noticed Garth. "Garth!" she yelped as she rushed over. "Humphrey, what did you do to him?"

"Do to him?" Humphrey said, pulling back at last from bashing his head against the glass. "I've been trying to save his life here!"

Kate coolly examined the glass of Garth's container as though she was looking for something. Apparently satisfied that she had found the right spot, she rapped it gently with her paw. This caused a crack to form in the glass, which stretched farther and farther as the glass began to give way.

"Yeah, it's easy when you have someone do the painful part for you!" Humphrey muttered.

Garth seemed to be on his feet before he even hit the ground. He immediately realized how wet he was. And Humphrey was standing right in front of him. This red wolf knew how to put two and two together.

"Humphrey!" Garth yelled. "What type of practical joke do you call this?"

Humphrey gave an exasperated shrug. "Even when I try to save his life, I get blamed! That's gratitude for you!"

But Kate had already turned her mind to other things. Once she was sure everybody was safe, she began to look around at her surroundings. It was unlike any place she had ever been before or had ever even been able to imagine. It was sleek and cold and metallic, with great futuristic computers covering the walls at both ends of the room. It would have been an impressive sight, had not the computers all been nearly completely torn to pieces. The light which their scattered forms emitted was the only thing the wolves could see by and it bathed the entire room in an ethereal blue glow.

Humphrey was now standing right behind her and looking with interest as well. "Kate, I think it's time for that explanation you promised."

Kate looked over her shoulder to see not only Humphrey, but Garth and Lilly waiting for her to clarify things.

"Um, he he," she said nervously, "the truth is… I have no explanation. I have no idea where we are or how we got here. I just remember that you and Garth were meeting me and Lilly near Ward Rock for a double date. And just as you two arrived and I began to chew you out for having nearly killed each other on the way, I got this sharp pain in my rear."

"That would be Humphrey," Garth said sarcastically.

"No I think that description fits you better, Barf," Humphrey shot back.

Kate cleared her throat to get them to be quiet. "As I was saying, I felt a sharp pain and then everything went black."

A thought crossed Kate's mind as she said this. "Ooh, if those humans have relocated us to Sawtooth so that we could 'repopulate' again, I'm going to act like mom all over them!"

But Garth had noticed something out of the corner of his eye; a window. He thought he might be able to see where they were.

"Kate, I don't think this is Sawtooth," Garth said as his jaw dropped.

Humphrey came over and his jaw dropped as well. "I don't remember Sawtooth ever looking like this!"

Lilly came over and hers became the third jaw to drop. But all that came out of her mouth was a small, "Wow!"

Kate was the last to come over, not knowing what to expect. But she never expected anything like she saw and she inadvertently joined the others in jaw-dropping. At first glance, the only thing they could see out of the window was pitch darkness, which is probably why they had missed it before. But when they got close to it and looked slightly downward, they could see that they were hovering over something. Something large, something violent, swirling around in brilliant colors of orange and red, becoming an unceasing vortex that seemed to stretch infinitely outward into eternity; Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

* * *

**What are our heroes doing orbiting Jupiter? How did they get there? Who brought them? And can they ever get home?**

**Read on.**


	2. Space

**II. Space. II.**

* * *

Everybody stood for several minutes in silence. At last, Lilly broke the ice, "We're in…. space?"

"Looks that way," Kate replied, too stunned to say more.

The wolves turned away from the window and walked toward the center of the room. "How did we get here?" Kate said, just a hint of panic in her voice. "How are we going to get back home? We're in real trouble now!"

"Hey, maybe it's not all bad," Humphrey interjected. "We're the first wolves in space, after all! Shakey's going to be so jealous when I tell him!"

"I agree with Kate," Garth said. "Space is not the type of place I want Lilly to be. It's too dangerous for her out here."

"Dangerous, please!" Humphrey said with a roll of his eyes.

Garth did not appreciate Humphrey's words and gesture. "It's true, Humphrey; I've seen _Bad Universe_. Space is filled with all sorts of things just waiting to kill you; black holes, pulsars, neutron stars, space-goats. I don't want Lilly mixed up with any of that."

"I'm not even going to ask where the space-goats came from," Humphrey responded.

"Goats are much larger in space, Humphrey," Garth argued. "And they have these dripping venomous fangs and these long snake-tongues. Edgar told me all about them."

"Well, if Edgar said it, it must be true," Humphrey said sarcastically. "After all, he's just so right all the time, isn't he?"

"Space is dangerous, Humphrey, and that's all there is to it," Garth said, having gotten very annoyed with Humphrey by this point.

Humphrey chuckled and leaned against the rubble of one of the computers. "Come on, Garth, there's not any danger around here…. Aaaaahhhh!"

Humphrey jumped back into Kate as he screamed. His leaning against the rubble had caused something to fall out and land on the ground in front of them. Now its dead eyes looked directly at them and held them by its sightless sight.

"That is a human head!" Humphrey yelped. "There just happens to be a severed human head laying around the old room where we wake up. There's something bad going on here!"

"Don't panic," Kate said, trying to keep herself from being weirded out. "There could be a completely rational explanation for it. Who knows, maybe mom's on board and she woke up before the rest of us."

"It's a human head!" Humphrey yelped again. "A real human head…. Without any body to match!"

"Humphrey, get a hold of yourself!" Kate barked. She grabbed Humphrey's shoulders to steady him, prepared to shake if necessary.

Just then, Kate's ears perked up; she had heard someone or something in the hallway. Even her refined hearing could not make out what it was. It seemed to move far too fast for her to be sure of what it could be. She looked immediately toward the door, a large metal door that apparently slid in and out of place. Instinctively, though she did not know why she would do this, her eyes darted beside the door. There was a control panel, filled with a number of red buttons, the largest of which could only have one purpose.

"Whatever it is, we have to see what's out there," Kate said, more to herself than the others.

"Um, Kate, has that liquid made you crazy?" Humphrey said. "Whatever's out there, was probably the thing that gave this guy too-thorough of a hair-cut here. I don't think we want to be where it is. Especially if it's your mother!"

Kate shot him a suspicious look. "I thought you said you liked spending time with mom."

"Um, yeah, about that," Humphrey responded with a guilty smile, "it was a lie. I tell lies sometimes when it keeps me from being brutally torn apart by Eve's razor-sharp claws."

"I can't believe you lied about something like that!" Kate scolded. "My mom is like family to me!"

Humphrey shook his head. "Hey, you Alphas have your survival skills, we Omegas have ours."

Before this bickering could continue, another sharp bang was heard on one of the outside walls, causing Humphrey to jump back in terror. This made up Kate's mind for her. Without a second thought, she leapt on a nearby crate and launched herself toward the panel, smacking the large button before kicking off the wall and landing perfectly right back where she had started. The door opened slowly.

Kate and Humphrey looked out first, with Garth and Lilly behind them. They could see nobody, human or canine, only a darkened corridor. But there was something they could make out clearly; the walls of the corridor were spattered with blood. Red blood of the type which humans and wolves bleed back on Earth.

Without a word, Kate trotted out to investigate.

"He he, here's a crazy idea!" Humphrey said nervously. "How about we not go out into the blood-soaked hallway and instead stay where in this nice, safe room?"

"If the thing was able to get in and kill that guy without using the door, I don't think we'll be much safer," Kate said as she disappeared into the darkness.

Garth and Lilly followed her.

"Garth, you're not really going to let Lilly go out there?" Humphrey said in surprise.

Garth looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "I don't like it, but Kate's right. There's no guarantee she'd be any safer in here. But if you want to stay behind with your new friend, Humphrey, that's fine by me."

Humphrey turned to see the severed head still in front of him. He shivered.

Kate peaked her head back in the doorway. "Coming, Humphrey?"

"Well, I would but…." Humphrey said uneasily. "It's just that… it's just that… it's looking at me!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Omegas," she muttered.

Humphrey looked at the head still staring at him and shivered again. But he had to be brave for Kate. So, collecting his courage, he kicked the head away and began to follow the others.

Just as he reached the doorway, however, the head bounced off the wall and landed once again at his feet, looking up at him. Humphrey yelped loudly and dashed past the doorway. Eager to catch-up with the others, he followed their scents into the darkness of the corridor and the unknown.

* * *

**What awaits our heroes in the darkness?**

**Read on.**


	3. Time

**III. Time. III.**

* * *

They crept silently through the dark corridors of the ship, not knowing what to expect and expecting the mysterious attacker to appear at any moment. In each flicker of the broken lights above, their minds played tricks on them and they thought they saw the shadows move. They thought they heard pounding upon the walls as they walked, but they could not be sure of where it came from. And they did not know if the chill they felt was coming from the ship or was the product of their own fear.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of searching – yet had been but thirty minutes, if that – Kate noticed a light up ahead. It was not a very bright light, but in the darkness it seemed blinding. They were now going up a steep incline that made sneaking somewhat difficult, but they knew they had to reach that light. There was nothing behind them worth going back to and, while they had no idea what was ahead of them, they knew it had to be real and good. As they approached it, coming out of those cavernous corridors and into the light, it became clear that this was another doorway, one already opened.

Such was their relief that all four wolves broke into a run, with even Lilly managing to keep up with the rest for this short jaunt. They all quickly ducked into the room as though their very lives depended on it. Perhaps they had reached safety at last.

And there, they found no one. Each of the wolves had expected to find someone within, whoever was responsible for commanding this ship and holding off the monstrosity let loose in the caverns below. But there was no one. And yet, this was very clearly the cockpit and command-center of the ship. Two seats sat before a wide and diverse system of buttons, screens, and levers. Before them was a large window curling around the room, looking outward into the blackness of space, Jupiter and a few of its larger moons visible toward the left side of the ship. But there was nobody to command it.

"Okay, does anybody else think its worrying that apparently the pilots thought it was okay just to leave the controls behind?" Humphrey said.

"Maybe it's on autopilot!" Garth said, as though to scold Humphrey for what he considered another unnecessary remark. He just barely managed to keep himself from  
adding "you twit" onto the end.

"Why don't we find out?" Kate said, walking toward one of the seats.

"Kate, slow down!" Humphrey said. "You don't know what you're doing! You could get electrocuted by those things! I mean, Shakey was when he was building his own, and he wasn't even using anything but wood!"

"Humphrey, aren't you the one who said there's nothing dangerous in space?" Kate said slyly as she jumped up into one of the seats.

Humphrey was not happy with the tables thus being turned and was looking for any way to prove his point, even if it meant relying on his least-favorite companion.

"Garth, help me out here!" he said. "Tell Kate how dangerous playing with strange alien control consoles is."

Garth thought for a few moments, trying to remember if he had heard anything about that. But he could think of nothing and merely shrugged.

"Oh, when I actually need you, you got nothing," Humphrey said in disgust. "Typical."

"Hey, weren't you the one who mocked me before for warning you about space?" Garth barked. "I thought you didn't want my advice!"

"No, I just didn't want to hear any more about space-goats!" Humphrey shot back.

While they were arguing, they failed to notice Lilly walk between them and jump up on the other chair.

"What are you doing?" Lilly asked as Kate randomly pulled levers and smashed buttons.

"I'm trying to find something that will give us some information here!" Kate answered as she banged her paws repeatedly against a pair of large green buttons. "But nothing seems to do anything!"

Lilly glanced around and saw a blue button with the words "Ship's Log" written above it. She pressed it.

A screen came on between them. Once she realized what was happening, Kate stopped recklessly whacking things and took a moment to glare at her sister. As much as Kate loved Lilly, it was annoying whenever Lilly managed to notice something like that which Kate had completely failed to see.

"Greetings. This is the ship's log" said a robotic voice from the screen. "What do you require?"

"Um, there are a few questions we'd like answers to," Kate responded.

"What is your question?" responded the metallic voice, without any hint of interest or emotion.

"Let's start with, 'Where are we?'" Kate answered.

"Currently, we are hovering over the southern hemisphere of Jupiter, the area known as the Great Red Spot," the voice answered.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I know that, but what does it mean? What is this ship and who owns it? Who brought us here?"

"This ship is the C.I.P.S. Rheingold," answered the voice, "property of the fleet of the Confederation of Sovereign Worlds."

"The Confederation of Sovereign Worlds?" Kate said. "Is that where we are now?"

"Correct," answered the voice. "The Confederation rules over all planets and other bodies of this solar system with the exception of Earth and its Moon."

"Okay, next question. Who is this Confederation? Where did they come from? What type of species are they?"

"The Confederation was formed nearly seven-hundred years ago when the various human colonies of this solar system declared independence from Earth and formed new states under a single ruler."

Realization slowly began to dawn on Kate. Something wasn't right, even more so than she thought before, but she still couldn't put her paw on it. She looked over to Lilly. "Human colonies? But the humans don't have colonies outside of Earth, do they?"

Lilly shrugged. She had to admit that she had never paid particularly close attention to anything the humans did, space-wise or otherwise.

Kate answered her own question. "No, they don't. Their space capabilities aren't developed enough yet and all the planets should be too inhospitable. So they don't have colonies… or they didn't…."

The horrible truth was now becoming clear in Kate's mind. In a state of near-panic, she asked the computer, "What year is this?"

"Eighteen," was the answer.

"Eighteen?" Kate yelled. "How can it be the year Eighteen?"

"It is the eighteenth year of our current ruler's reign," answered the computer.

"Well, what is it in Earth years?" Kate demanded, barely keeping herself under control.

"In Earth years, it is the year 4076."

All four wolves heard this and, for a second time, their jaws dropped. It was enough to even make Humphrey and Garth cease their bickering.

"Guys," Kate said slowly as she regained some composure, "I think being stranded near Jupiter has just become the least of our problems."

* * *

**What does this mean for our heroes?**

**Read on.**


	4. Encounter with Evil

**Here's another chapter of "Wolves on Space." This is our longest chapter so far, but something very important happens within. **

**But first, a few announcements: I intend to post Chapter V of this story very soon as well, hopefully this very week. ****New updates for "Perils of the North" and "A Confluence of Hearts" are also coming soon. **

**For those of you who follow _Alpha and Omega: The Series_, "Wolves on Film" is now finished and will shortly be followed by my next series story, "Lilly on Trial." And, finally, I've got a new Lilly one-shot in the works and which I hope to have completed in the near future.**

**So, basically, I've got a busy schedule. But for now, here's Chapter IV. Without further ado, read on:**

* * *

**IV. Encounter With Evil. IV.**

* * *

"Okay, everybody, there's no reason to panic," Kate said. "It's going to be okay. Just relax."

"Yeah, there's no reason to panic," Humphrey responded. "I mean, we've only been in suspended animation for the past 2,000 years. Why would that make us panic?"

"2,000 years?" Lilly said, as though she was only now beginning to fully grasp the idea. "But that means that everybody in Jasper is…."

"That's right," Humphrey said, "gone to that happy hunting ground in the sky. As opposed to the four of us – who ended up in a giant metallic box in the sky."

"But without us, what happened to the United Pack?" Garth said, growing upset.

Kate grew increasingly troubled as she thought about this. "Without us, the union of the packs would have collapsed! Without us, there must have been feuding, civil war, destruction!"

"There would have been no one to save them from Edgar!" Garth shouted.

"Well, so much for not panicking," Humphrey remarked.

"Maybe we can still find out what happened to Jasper," Lilly said. "Why don't we ask the computer?"

Kate nodded and turned back toward the monitor. "Okay, one more question. What can you tell me about Jasper Park, Canada?"

"Jasper Park was founded in the twentieth Earth century to serve as a nature park and wildlife preserve for animals such as bears, moose, and wolves."

"That's it: wolves!" Kate said. "Tell us more about the wolves."

"The wolves of Jasper originally consisted of two packs which coexisted rather peacefully until the caribou supply began to dwindle and the packs were forced to compete for food. Eventually, it was agreed that the problem could be solved by uniting the packs. This was achieved with the marriage of an Alpha to an Omega which–"

"Am I the only one who thinks this story sounds familiar?" Humphrey quipped.

"Yeah, yeah," Kate said to the log, "we already know this. Skip ahead a bit! Maybe to the year 2013?"

"In 2013, the Jasper Pack experienced a major crisis as–"

Just then, out of nowhere, the visual on the screen burst into white noise and the robotic voice was replaced by static. In a moment, a voice was once again coming through, but it was not the same voice. No, this was deep and dark and evil.

"Fools!" this voice exclaimed. "Your hubris has gotten the better of you! Did you forget that we are the ones who control your fate? That we are the ones who control the fates of all living things? That we turn the stars and write out the destinies of the planets? How could you ever think you puny, insignificant beings could challenge us? We laugh at your petty, meaningless arrogance! We laugh at your petty, insignificant lives. We have judged you and found you wanting. Your fate is sealed and your doom is certain!"

"Okay, not like _that's_ anything to worry about," Humphrey remarked. "I mean, after finding out you're thousands of miles from home thousands of years in the future, fate and doom don't seem like such a big deal anymore, am I right?"

Kate gave Humphrey a scolding look but before she could say anything, the voice coming from the monitor continued. "There is no way you can escape your fate, pathetic wretches! You must all be destroyed, for that is our judgment upon you!"

As soon as this was said, there was a flash of light as the monitor blew apart, followed by every other light and screen in the cabin. Kate pushed Lilly out of the way just in time, for the main console exploded completely as they fell to the floor.

"Guys, I think it might be safer if we got out of here," Garth suggested.

"For once, I agree with Barf here!" Humphrey added.

Kate was reluctant to run away from anything, but as she looked into the darkness, she knew they had more to do out there. "The pilots must have disappeared somewhere," she said. "This place is useless to us without them. We don't know how to fly a spaceship, after all."

"Not to mention the fact that the console just exploded, so nobody can fly this spaceship," Humphrey chimed in.

Kate ignored him. "So, we need to find where they've gone to. They might have weapons or something which can resist whatever's attacking them."

She then nodded for the others to follow her as she strode back toward the darkness. Garth quickly did so.

"Funny," Humphrey said to Lilly as the Omegas watched them, "when I suggested we leave this pressure-cooker, I forgot it would mean going back into the darkness there. Maybe we should just stay put. I mean, we've already got a nice fire started and everything!"

But before he could say more, another explosion rocked the cockpit. Both Humphrey and Lilly realized it was time to go. They scurried out just before the whole room exploded into a blazing fire. As Humphrey and Lilly caught up with their mates, all four looked back at the inferno now consuming what little remained of the former control-room.

"Well, at least now we'll have something to see by," Kate remarked before continuing on her way.

"Until we get deeper into these corridors, that is," Garth added as he continued along with her.

"That's what I love about you, Kate," Humphrey said as he and Lilly followed behind them. "You always see the bright side of every situation."

"Alphas are naturally optimistic," Kate responded.

Humphrey, glad to finally be in a quipping contest with Kate, was about to say something unbelievably witty when he was interrupted by another sharp bang from somewhere in the darkness. Soon, the walls echoed with a few more.

Immediately, everyone fell quiet. They had just had a forceful reminder that this was a question of survival. Kate put her nose to the ground and picked up a scent. A human scent. Without even indicating to the others, she began to follow its trail.

They all followed her, as Kate knew they would. She was the boss, after all. At least, that's how she always saw it.

It seemed like hours before they came to where the trail terminated. Cautiously, Kate led them into a large room that must have been the endpoint. The humans were definitely in here. They had to be.

There was a little flickering light that provided some vision as it momentarily flashed on before going dark again, repeating the cycle eternally. There had once been many more, but they were all blown out now. From what the wolves could see, this had once been a commissary where many had eaten. But now the tables were overturned and the cabinets torn apart. All four wolves cringed to see that the walls here, too, were covered in blood.

"Okay," Kate said over her shoulder as she walked further into the room, "the humans have to be here somewhere. Just keep looking and tell me if you– oof!"

Kate tumbled to the ground. Or not so much to the ground as onto something else, something vast and rough.

"Kate," Humphrey said. "I think we found the humans."

Kate now realized what had tripped her, what she had fallen upon. The bloody, gutted corpse of a human being. Kate looked up to see the horror in his blood-drenched face, his bulging eyes. Beside him were the remains of his comrade, equally gruesome, but with the addition of some sort of lazar gun stuffed into his mouth.

A lazar gun? Even under these circumstances, Kate's strategic mind went to work. If that guy had a lazar gun, then the individual she was currently making a bed out of must have had one too. Sure enough, it had fallen by his side, so that he was at least spared the humiliation of having to eat it as he died. Kate grabbed the gun and, slowly, carefully, got off the victim.

"You know," Humphrey said. "It's looking more and more like Eve every minute."

"Yeah, maybe Kate and Lilly aren't in danger after all," Garth added.

"No, it can't be mom," Lilly chimed in quietly. "Mom wouldn't do this."

Humphrey and Garth exchanged knowing looks. "Don't look now, Garth," Humphrey said, "but I think your mate's in denial!"

"No, Lilly's right," Kate said. "If had been mom, there would have been a lot more blood."

"And mom would have blown that guy's head up after shoving the gun down his throat," Lilly added.

"Thanks for reminding me, Lilly," Kate said. "Humphrey, go get the other gun."

"Why do I always have to do the gruesome parts?" Humphrey whined.

Kate was in no mood to argue. "Okay, Garth, go get the gun."

Garth began to walk forward but Humphrey jumped in front of him. "On second thought," Humphrey said, "I don't want Garth packing heat anywhere near me. I'll get the gun."

Humphrey cautiously, nervously walked over and paced around his subject, trying to figure out how to get at the firearm without getting too much blood on himself. He realized that he was a wolf, and thus blood should not make him so squeamish, but Humphrey had never had human blood on him before and was already quite freaked out as it was.

Noticing Kate and Garth waiting impatiently out of the corner of his eye, Humphrey resolved to get this done as quickly as possible. He leapt for the gun and swiftly ripped it out of the corpse. He did so with so much force that he sent himself off balance, accidentally firing bolts of light at both Lilly and Garth. Garth managed to push himself and Lilly out of the way just in the nick of time.

"Humphrey, stop clowning around!" Garth ordered. "You could have really killed me that time!"

"And me too!" Lilly said, with a slight hint of anger.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not playing practical jokes on you!" Humphrey said, waving the gun around absent-mindedly in his paw as he did so. Kate, Garth, and Lilly anxiously tried to keep out of its line of sight.

"Humphrey," Kate said, as sweetly as she could under the circumstances, "how about you stop waving the gun around like a homicidal madman, okay?"

Humphrey, realizing what he was doing, immediately sought to improve his gun safety. He lowered it so that it now pointed toward the floor.

"Come on, you guys can't think I'm really dangerous, can you?" he said with a characteristically silly grin.

Garth and Lilly nodded yes. Kate glared at both of them over her shoulder and then put on a fake smile for Humphrey. "Of course not, honey. But you can never be too safe."

"Nice to know two out of my three companions think I could snap at a moment's notice," Humphrey quipped. "Still, maybe being gun-crazy has its advantages. I mean, I don't think Garth'll want to mess with me anymore!"

Garth was about to respond when another loud bang occurred just outside the room. Thinking quickly, Kate hit the button to close the great steel doors, which slid into place. The doors locked together into one heavy, impenetrable formation. All of the wolves except Lilly let out a sigh of relief.

"I may not know much about 41st century technology," Kate said, "but I think those doors will hold any monster for a while."

"I don't know about that, sis," Lilly said, the terror in her voice rising with each word.

Kate, Humphrey, and Garth turned back to the door, at which Lilly was staring intently. They had not realized until now that the banging had stopped right at the door. Now they saw why. Something was coming through the door. Literally coming through the door, arising out of the firm steel as though it had been the finest air. Nothing halted its movement as the giant behemoth reformed itself in front of them.

And what was this creature they saw before them? It was not something that inspired horror, initially. In fact, it rather relieved them when they saw it, and filled them with great wonder. For it was large, massive, and vaguely humanoid (and very vaguely at that), but it had no discernible features on its face or anywhere, making its body seem perfectly smooth. And perhaps most strangely, most enticingly of all, it seemed to be made of a great crystal reflecting the most magnificent display of light.

All the colors of the spectrum seemed to meet in the body of that creature and shine out in a most pure and blinding form all at once. It was marvelous to see them dancing and mingling together throughout that dread form. The lights made the wolves smile as they gently played and danced within the being and around the room. Our heroes' mood improved significantly as they watched the blinding colors. It could be easy to believe that this was some sort of angel sent to guide our heroes to safety. And so the wolves originally let themselves believe.

Until the thing let out, from every point of its being, a most horrific screech, not altogether unlike static heard on an old television or radio, but seemingly one-thousand times louder.

"Okay, I think it might be time to panic now," Humphrey said.

"No, don't panic!" Kate ordered. "We can take it if we just–ahhh!"

Kate, and the three wolves behind her, had been knocked back by a swipe from what appeared to be the creature's arm. It was a tremendously powerful blow that sent them all flying in different directions. Kate got the sense that, had it wanted to, the creature could have killed them right there. But it was going to drag this out; it was going to have fun stalking its prey first.

Kate knew the feeling, but had never been on the other end of the predator-prey equation before.

The two couples ran off in separate directions. Humphrey and Kate took cover under a sink while Garth tried to get Lilly under the cover of a row of cupboards. But he never got there, as the thing brought its great fist (or what passed for a fist upon such a being) down upon his back. Lilly had just made the cupboards when she turned back and saw what had happened.

"Garth!" she screamed.

"We have to help him!" Kate yelled as she dashed out from under the sink.

"And who, exactly, is going to help us?" Humphrey remarked as he reluctantly followed her.

The thing held Garth down with one arm and prepared to drop the other one like a hammer. But just as it would have done so, Kate leapt for its back. She spun herself around and positioned herself for a dropkick. She was going to let this creature know that it just who it was messing with. With all her might, she slammed her back feet into the thing.

And went right through it. Without even realized what was happening, she sailed out of the monster's chest. The thing had let go of Garth to focus on the wolf spiraling through it, and our red hero jumped to his feet. He might have been able to help Kate had he not been the one who received the full brunt of her flying feet. He was knocked against one of the cupboards, causing rows and rows of metallic shelves to fall on his head.

"Garth!" Lilly cried again.

"Nice going, Kate!" Humphrey said happily as he gave her a round of applause.

"I didn't mean to do that!" Kate hollered back.

"Sure, when I do stuff like that, it must be intentional," Humphrey said, "but when you do it – Kate!"

He saw now that the thing was preparing to smash Kate in place of Garth. Even with her speed, she would not get up in time. Without even thinking, he leapt through the monster himself and, picking up Kate, ran her out of the way.

Unfortunately, the monster was able to give him and Kate a terrible blow to their backs, sending them crashing into the sink and causing water to gush out all over them.

"Sis! Humphrey!" Lilly cried.

Big mistake. Now the monster had been alerted to the fact that she remained conscious. It began to approach slowly, carefully stalking her. She had no place to go. She could only squirm further under the cupboards, but there was hardly any room under there to begin with. And the being arrived in no time. Soon, its large hand was reaching under the cupboards, grasping for the white Omega. She could practically feel its slender, spindly claws as they approached.

Lilly began to whimper as the claws got closer and closer. She shivered and covered her eyes with her paws, but it did not help. Nothing could help her. She knew the thing had her. That was certain.

As the claws began to close around her neck, gliding through her fur and burning into her very flesh, she thought she heard the monster let out a revolting, diabolical laugh. This was the end for her, she knew.

There was no way out for Lilly now.

* * *

**What will happen to Lilly?**

**And what about the other three?**

**Is anyone safe from this monstrosity?**

**Read on.**


	5. Ignorant Goodwill

**It's April 24th, the ninety-seventh anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland, a historical event which just may have some bearing on this story later on.**

**So it seemed like the perfect moment to post this next chapter.**

* * *

**V. Ignorant Goodwill. V.**

* * *

As Lilly was violently pulled out from under the cupboard, she tried to look away from the being that held her fate literally in its hand. But she could not, for the creature dug its claws into her neck and would not allow her to move, forcing her to look upon it as it prepared her end. Lilly felt her whole body burn with painful, unfathomable terror.

And then, she saw something strange. For, suddenly, out of the monstrosity's form tore the tip of a spear and then the blade of a small axe. The monster dropped her as it writhed in pain. Lilly could not believe what had just happened, but she was too afraid to look. She threw her paws over her eyes once again.

When Lilly finally worked up the courage to see what had happened, she lifted one paw slightly to her forehead, just enough to see clearly but easy enough to bring back down if she saw something threatening. That was when she saw a small dog, as pure white as herself, dodging the creature's vicious attacks. Though this canine was rather far away, Lilly could make out clearly her long, slender body and her round head, as well as the long ears which gently fell behind her to her shoulders. Lilly could even clearly make out her aquamarine eyes, bright and calm as the sea itself.

Strangely enough, the dog, this dainty and delicate-looking creature, was wearing a large helmet on her head, a grey metal thing with a large crest and a small peak, and was wielding with precision a giant halberd – the poleaxe Lilly had seen earlier.

The monster screeched loudly as it swung at her. This was enough to daze all four wolves but the dog did not seem to notice it at all. She kept hacking at it and hacking at it, while it vainly tried to land a blow on her.

Finally, it got lucky, swiping her away. But she had managed to dodge just enough to avoid the worst of the blow and so was able to recover herself in mid-air and bounce off the wall. She struck another blow as she came down.

As Garth regained his footing, he immediately ran over to Lilly, hoping to defend and comfort her as best he could against this creature. But he was stunned that his presence did not help Lilly at all, as she immediately scurried back under the cupboards, not wanting to see any more of the battle.

As Kate recovered, her immediate instinct was to join in the battle. Before Humphrey could tell her not to, she broke into a run and made another jump for the monster. She had apparently not learned her lesson the first time. For once again, Kate flew right through the monster and crashed instead into the white dog. This sent them both to the ground and squandered whatever advantage the dog had managed to build up against her opponent.

As they both tried to get off of the ground, the white dog glared at her. "This is no job for amateurs!" she barked.

"I'm no amateur!" Kate retorted.

"Then quit acting like one!" the white dog shot back.

But before this conversation could be continued further, the white dog suddenly began to slide away. Both of them looked in horror to see that the creature had grabbed her and was dragging her back toward itself.

The dog immediately tried to reach her weapon, but it was too far. She clawed and grasped at it, but she could not manage to close the gap between it and herself, a gap which widened with every second.

Kate watched her being pulled away in utter shock. For once in her life she did not know what to do. She felt like, for the first time in her whole career as an Alpha, she was in a situation completely over her head and that there was no way out of it.

Then she noticed the white dog glaring at her and doing as much of a shrug as being dragged on the ground – while still trying to reach the halberd – would allow, as though to say, 'You mind helping me out here?'

Kate got the idea, or thought she did. She leapt to her feet and grabbed the halberd. It took her a moment to lift, as she was surprised by how heavy it truly was. But in a moment she had it. There was a switch on the side, which she had no clue about, so she decided to ignore it. Now Kate figured she was ready.

She ran toward the monster and leapt into the air, belting out a fierce battle-cry as she slashed at it with the halberd. She made contact with its arm, and mentally congratulated herself on being such a quick study with weapon-combat. Then she noticed that the strike seemed to have no effect. Instead, the arm kept coming and smacked both her and the halberd out of the sky.

The white dog shook her head in disgust. "Buffoon," she muttered.

But now the creature had its sights – if it could see – on Kate. It approached her. Seeing his mate in clear danger, Humphrey took the initiative. During the battle, he had careful sneaked out from under the sink and grabbed up the two guns that had been discarded. Now was the perfect moment to use them.

He ran over and began firing randomly. The shots seemed to have some effect – when they actually hit, that is. Mostly, however, they just randomly flew into the walls and tables. Humphrey's aim was definitely not up to military standard.

"Humphrey!" Garth yelled as one of the blasts singed the edge of his ear.

"Still an accident, big guy!" Humphrey called back as he tried to focus more on hitting the monster, with limited success.

The creature was quick to determine the source of this irritant and knocked Humphrey aside without much trouble. This left Kate, just now recovering, at its complete mercy.

Kate could only look up in terror as the creature prepared to crush her with its fist once and for all.

That was when she saw the halberd pierce through it once more. "Gotcha this time," came the white dog's voice from behind the thing. And then, suddenly, the halberd began to glow, brighter and brighter until it could hardly be told apart from the being itself.

Then there was a great flash and an explosion that blinded everyone, but only for a second. As Kate's vision returned, she saw the white dog standing there, the halberd tilted downward, while streaks of white light flew past her.

"Hurry, hurry, catch it, catch it!" the dog barked out without moving.

Suddenly, at the now-open doorway, appeared two humans carrying strange-looking boxes. With a flip of the switches, the streaks of light were trapped. The dog gave out a sigh of relief once it was done. She relaxed and finally came out of battle-stance.

Kate got to her feet. The dog just flashed her a cocky look and then turned away. Normally, Kate would take this as an insult, but she had to go check on Humphrey. She ran over as the white dog walked toward the other side of the room. There, Garth was trying to calm down Lilly, who was still shivering and crying under the cupboards and refused to come out.

"It's okay, Lilly," Garth said. "The monster's gone. It's okay."

Lilly sobbed from under the cupboards. "N-n-no! I won't come out!"

"Here, let me try," the white dog said as she kneeled beside Garth.

Putting on a very kind demeanor, she smiled warmly at Lilly and offered her paw. "He's right. We took care of the bad guy, so now he can't hurt you anymore. He's gone for good, and you can trust me on that. It's my job to deal with them. And I did."

She then winked at Lilly.

As Lilly looked into her round face and her large blue-green eyes, a distant memory seemed to come back to her. "C-C-Cadpig?" she asked hesitantly.

The white dog smiled. "I get that a lot. But please, call me Clarity."

Lilly took her paw and let her guide her out. By this time, Kate and Humphrey had arrived.

Now Clarity stood up and grasped her halberd. She and Kate sharply locked eyes.

"You mind telling us what's going on here?" Kate said testily.

Clarity sneered. "There's always one on every rescue mission. Things go so smoothly until one of the civilians decides they have to play hero!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kate said, "Who you callin' a civilian? I am a hero!"

"Yeah, such a hero, you can't even tell how an energy halberd works," Clarity said. "Next time, how 'bout you actually turn it on before doing the whole suicidal charge thing?"

Kate growled. "Oh, excuse me! As if I was supposed to know that!"

"They're standard issue for the military," Clarity responded. "So you should know, if you're _not a civilian_, that is."

Kate was about to say something, but Clarity cut her off. "Just tell me your place of origin and we'll get you back home in no time, kay?"

All four wolves exchanging enthusiastic looks. Whatever her problems with the dog, Kate was relieved to have a way of getting out of this terrible situation.

"We're from Jasper," she said without thinking.

"Hm, is that the Jasper on Titan or is it the one in the asteroid belt?" Clarity asked thoughtfully.

Kate, feeling slightly embarrassed, clarified. "It's Jasper, Canada… Earth."

Clarity chuckled a little. "Sure it is. Now, what's your real planet of origin? There's a Jasper, Mars, I believe. Is that it? I don't have all day to play games, you know."

' "But… we really are from Earth…." Kate said, confused.

"It's true," Humphrey said. Garth and Lilly nodded in agreement.

Clarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, you mean the Earth that has been completely impossible to travel to or from in nearly two-hundred years? You mean that Earth?"

"Well, unless you got another one somewhere," Humphrey said. "And is it just me, or does our situation get more and more unbelievably hopeless every minute?"

Seeing how little progress Kate and Humphrey were making, Garth decided to take charge of the situation. "I don't know how to explain this clearly… but we are from Earth. We're the leaders of the Jasper Unified Wolfpack."

"Now I know you're not telling the truth!" Clarity said. "There are no separately-functioning wolfpacks in the Confederation. Not anymore."

"But here's the thing," Humphrey said. "We're not from the Confederation. We're not even from this time. We're from the 21st Century! Like, a whole two-thousand years ago!"

Clarity looked from one wolf to the other, surveying all four. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

All four wolves nodded.

She let out a sharp, shrill laugh. "Then you four are positively insane!"

"No, it's true!" Kate interjected. "We woke up in these liquid container-things down in this place with all these computers and blue lighting."

As she spoke those things, the look in Clarity's eyes started to change. Now she was taking her seriously.

"Robartes, what have you done now?" Clarity said as she began to piece things together.

"Robartes? Who's Robartes?" Humphrey asked.

"Dr. Michael Robartes is–" Clarity began to explain, but she was quickly interrupted.

"Hey, Clarity, what's taking you so long?" came a masculine voice behind her. "You know we have to get back to base!"

The voice belonged to a large male dog, a grey thing that could have almost past for a wolf if it were not that certain features, such as a curly tail, clearly marked him as a dog. Beside him stood a slender and svelte blue-eyed female that appeared to be something like a Saluki.

"I'm coming right now," Clarity said. As she turned to be off, she said to the wolves. "Now, you follow me. We've got to get you out of here."

The wolves were hesitant, so she said, "I'll explain everything on the way. Come on!"

* * *

**Will the wolves finally get the answers they seek? **

**And just who are these people that have saved them, anyway?**

**Read on.**


End file.
